Hair drier with minus ion producer

ABSTRACT

A hair drier having the capability of efficiently supplying hot air and minus ions from different outlets is provided. This hair drier has a hollow housing with an air suction inlet and an air outlet. In the housing, a fan and a heater are disposed in an air-flow channel formed between the air suction inlet and the air outlet. The air sucked in the housing by the fan is heated by the heater, and then ejected from the air outlet. The housing also has an ion-flow channel formed as an independent flow channel from the air-flow channel, and an ion outlet provided at a different position from the air outlet to eject minus ions generated by the minus ion generator. The minus ion generator is disposed in the ion-flow channel.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a hair drier with a minus iongenerator, which has the capability of efficiently supplying minus ionsto hair, while drying or setting the hair with hot air.

BACKGROUND ARTS

[0002] In general, it is said that hair is easy to be positivelycharged. When minus ions, which are minute water in the air coupled withnegatively charged oxygen, contact the positively-charged hair, astyling of the hair can be easily performed, while moisture content ofthe hair being kept. Therefore, it is proposed to place a minus iongenerator in a hair drier or a styling brush.

[0003] For example, a conventional hair drier with the minus iongenerator is of a structure shown in FIG. 5. That is, an air-flowchannel 2 is formed in a tubular housing 1 of this hair drier, so thatair sucked from an air-suction inlet 22 provided at one end of thehousing 1 is ejected from an air outlet 21 provided at the other endthereof. In the air-flow channel 2 of the housing 1, a fan 31, motor 32for driving the fan, heater 33, and the minus ion generator 7 aredisposed. In FIG. 5, the numeral 34 designates a grid member 34 attachedto the air outlet 21 to prevent foreign matter from getting into thehousing 1. The numeral 4 designates a nozzle attached to the air outlet,which has a tapered shape to eject the air flow from its top end opening41. In addition, a grip 35 projects downwardly from the housing 1, inwhich electric cords A for supplying electricity to the motor 32 and apower switch 36 are incorporated.

[0004] To use the above-described hair drier, when the power switch 36is turned on, electric power is supplied to the motor 32, heater 33, andthe minus ion generator 7. The air is sucked into the housing 1 from theair-suction inlet 22 by the fan 31, and then sent to the downstream sideof the air-flow channel. Subsequently, the air in the air-flow channel 2is heated by the heater 33. The heated air is mixed with the minus ionsgenerated by the minus ion generator 7. Thus, the air flow including theminus ions is ejected outside from the opening 41 of the nozzle 4through the air outlet 21 with the grid member 34.

[0005] However, the hair drier described above has a problem that theion generator 7 disposed in the air-flow channel 2 hampers a flow of airin the air-flow channel 2. In addition, since some of the minus ionsgenerated by the ion generator 7 are caught by the grid member 34,electrical repulsion occurs between the minus ions caught by the gridmember 34 and minus ions in the air flow successively supplied, so thatit becomes difficult for the minus ions to pass the grid member 34.Consequently, there is another problem that the supply amount of theminus ions gradually decreases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] In consideration of the above problems, a concern of the presentinvention is to provide a hair drier with a minus ion generator, whichhas the capability of efficiently supplying minus ions generated by theminus ion generator to hair, without hampering a flow of air in anair-flow channel.

[0007] That is, the hair drier of the present invention is characterizedby comprising an air-flow channel formed in the interior of a housing; afan and a heater disposed in the air-flow channel; an air outlet forejecting an air, which is provided at a downstream end of the air-flowchannel; an ion-flow channel formed in the housing so as to be separatedfrom the air-flow channel; the minus-ion generator for generating minusions, which is disposed in the ion-flow channel; and an ion outlet forthe minus ions, which is provided at a downstream end of the ion-flowchannel.

[0008] More specifically, the hair drier of the present invention ischaracterized by comprising a housing having a substantially hollowstructure, which has an air suction inlet, air outlet, and an air-flowchannel extending therebetween; a fan for sucking an outside air intothe housing through the air suction inlet; a heater for heating the airin the air-flow channel; and the minus ion generator; wherein thehousing has an ion-flow channel formed as an independent flow channelfrom the air-flow channel, and an ion outlet provided at a differentposition from the air outlet to eject minus ions generated by the minusion generator, and wherein the minus ion generator is disposed in theion-flow channel.

[0009] According to the hair drier described above, since the minus ionsgenerated by the ion generator are stably supplied from the ion outlet,without being caught by an obstacle such as a grid member, a user canefficiently carry out hair styling by spraying the minus ions to thehair.

[0010] To achieve the concern described above of the present invention,it is preferred that the minus ion generator includes a needle electrodeand a ground electrode spaced away from the needle electrode by a smalldistance, and a discharge for generating the minus ions is developedbetween the needle electrode and the ground electrode by applying anegative high voltage to the needle electrode.

[0011] In addition, it is preferred that the housing has an airinduction path for allowing part of the air running in the air-flowchannel to flow in the ion-flow channel. In this case, it is possible tomore stably supply the minus ions together with the air that comes intothe air induction path. Moreover, since it is not needed to dispose anadditional fan in the housing in order to eject the minus ions generatedby the minus ion generator from the ion outlet, there are advantagesthat the hair drier becomes a simple structure as whole, and can beeasily downsized. Additionally, as compared with a hair drier with adedicated fan, power consumption can be reduced.

[0012] In addition, it is preferred that the ion outlet is provided inthe vicinity of the air outlet. In this case, since the minus ionsejected from the ion outlet are easily mixed with the hot air ejectedfrom the air outlet, it is effective to increase amounts of the minusions that reach the user's hair. Moreover, there are advantages ofpreventing a hair damage caused by over-drying and decreasing theoccurrence of static electricity.

[0013] In addition, it is preferred that the above-described hair drierhas an ion switch for switching the minus ion generator to start or stopgenerating the minus ions. In this case, since the user can control thepresence or absence of the minus ions, it is possible to supply the hotair with the minus ions to the hair as need arises. For example, whenmoist hair is desired, the ion switch is turned on, and when a hairstylewith volume is desired, the ion switch is turned off. In particular,when the ion switch is provided on a surface of the housing and in thevicinity of the minus ion generator, it is possible to easily select thepresence or absence of the minus ions by operating the ion switch by onehand, while holding the grip of the hair drier by the other hand.

[0014] In addition, it is preferred that the hair drier described abovehas an ion generation indicator for indicating the start or stop ofgenerating the minus ions by the minus ion generator in conjunction withthe ion switch. In particular, it is preferred that the ion-generationindicator is provided on a surface of the housing and in the vicinity ofthe minus ion generator. In this case, it is possible to easily checkthe presence or absence of generating the minus ions.

[0015] These and still other objects and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the best mode for carrying outthe present invention explained below, referring to the attacheddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016]FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a hair drier witha minus ion generator according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0017]FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating an ionflow channel of the hair drier of FIG. 1;

[0018]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a structure of the minus iongenerator;

[0019]FIG. 4 is a partially cross-sectional top view of the hair drierof FIG. 1; and

[0020]FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional hairdrier with a minus ion generator.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0021] Referring to the attached drawings, a hair drier with a minus iongenerator according to a preferred embodiment of the present inventionis explained below in detail.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 1, this hair drier is mainly composed of ahollow housing 1 having an air suction inlet 22, air outlet 21, and anair-flow channel 2 formed therebetween, and a grip 35, in which a powerswitch 36 of the drier is disposed.

[0023] In this embodiment, the air suction inlet 22 is provided with amain suction inlet 25 formed in an upper surface of the housing and anauxiliary suction inlet 26 formed in a lower surface thereof. In thehousing 1, the air-flow channel 2 is defined between the air suctioninlet 22 and the air outlet 21. A fan 31 for sucking an outside air fromthe air suction inlet 22 into the housing and a heater 33 for heatingthe air in the air-flow channel are disposed in the air-flow channel 2.In the drawings, the numeral 32 designates a motor for driving the fan31. By driving the fan 31, the air sucked in the housing 1 is heated bythe heater 33, so that the obtained hot air is ejected from the airoutlet 21.

[0024] The fan 31 is of a centrifugal type of taking the air from themain and auxiliary suction inlets 25, 26 into the housing 1, andejecting the air from the air outlet 21 provided at the opposite side ofthe air-flow channel 2. Since the air flows in the housing from the topand bottom thereof, a smooth air flow can be achieved. The air suctioninlet 22 may be provided with only the main suction inlet 25.

[0025] A net-like grid member 34 for preventing inhalation of foreignsubstance into the housing 1 is attached to the air outlet 21. A nozzle4 for collecting the air flow in the housing 1 and ejecting it to theoutside is also attached to the air outlet 21. The nozzle 4 is formed insuch a tapered shape that its aperture diameter decreases toward an endaperture 41 of the nozzle 4. In addition, a pair of wings 42 are formedin the nozzle to collect the flow of air in a direction of asubstantially center axis of the housing. This pair of the wings 42 areformed such that air flows ejected from clearances between therespective wings and an interior surface of the nozzle are joined to theair flow ejected from a space between the wings. Thereby, as comparedwith the case of using a nozzle having a simple tapered shape, the hotair can be efficiently collected in the direction of the substantiallycenter axis of the housing to further increase a velocity of the airflow. In the hair drier of the present embodiment, a path extending fromthe air suction inlet 22 of the housing 1 to the end aperture 41 of thenozzle 4 through the air outlet 21 corresponds to the air-flow channel 2of the hair drier.

[0026] The grip 35 is integrally formed with the housing 1 so as toextend downwardly from the housing surface at a side of the auxiliarysuction inlet 26. The grip 35 is of a substantially tubular shape, inwhich a motor 32 and a power switch 36 for the heater 33 are disposed.

[0027] In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, the minus iongenerator 7 is disposed at an upper side in the housing 1. As explainedin detail below, minus ions generated by the minus ion generator 7 areejected to the outside through an ion-flow channel 5 independentlyformed from the air-flow channel 2, and an ion outlet 61 provided at adifferent position from the air outlet 21.

[0028] The minus ion generator 7 generates the minus ions that areminute moisture in the air coupled with negatively-charged oxygen. Asshown in FIG. 3, the minus ion generator 7 is composed of a dischargeunit 71, a high voltage generator 72, and lead wires 73 electricallyconnecting therebetween. The discharge unit 71 comprises a needle-likeelectrode 74, ground electrode 75 spaced away from the needle-likeelectrode by a required distance, and a casing 76 made of an insulatingmaterial to hold these electrodes. The needle-like electrode 74 and theground electrode 75 are respectively connected to the high voltagegenerator 72 by the lead wires 73.

[0029] To generate the minus ions by the minus ion generator 7, the highvoltage generator 72 develops a voltage such that a negative highvoltage is applied to the needle-like electrode 74 with reference to theground electrode 75. Thereby, a corona discharge (approximately 5 KW)happens between the needle-like electrode 74 and the ground electrode 75to generate the minus ions. The minus ion generator 7 is not limited tothe above-described one. Another minus ion generator may be used.

[0030] To place the ion generator 7 in the ion-flow channel 5, as shownin FIGS. 2 and 4, an outer wall 6 for the ion-flow channel is integrallyformed with the housing 1 such that the outer wall is smoothly elevatedforwardly from a substantially center portion of the upper surface ofthe housing 1, and an ion outlet 61 is opened in the same direction asthe air outlet 21.

[0031] In this embodiment, at the downstream side of the ion generator7, the ion-flow channel 5 is completely separated from the air-flowchannel 2. However, at the upstream side of the ion generator 7, theion-flow channel 5 is connected to the air-flow channel 2 though an airinduction path 9 formed to allow part of the air running in the air-flowchannel 2 to flow in the ion-flow channel 5. Thereby, as shown by thearrow in FIG. 2, the part of the air in the air-flow channel 2 passesthe minus ion generator 7 though the air induction path 9, so that theminus ions generated by the ion generator 7 flows in the ion-flowchannel 5 together with the part of the air flowed therein, and thensupplied from the ion outlet 61.

[0032] When the minus ions are caught by the grid member 34 or thenozzle 4 placed in the air-flow channel 2 before the minus ionsgenerated by the ion generator 7 are ejected from the ion outlet 61, aflow of the minus ions to the downstream side is hampered by electricalrepulsion caused between the minus ions caught by the above-describedmember and minus ions in the air flow successively supplied. In thepresent invention, by forming the ion-flow channel 5 as an independentflow channel from the air-flow channel 2 in the housing 1, it ispossible to avoid such an inconvenience that it becomes difficult tosupply the minus ions from the ion outlet 61.

[0033] In addition, since the ion outlet 61 is provided in the vicinityof the air outlet 21, the minus ions ejected from the ion outlet 61 ismixed with the air ejected from the nozzle 4 attached to the air outlet21, and then sprayed on the hair. As a result, it is possible toefficiently spray the minus ions on the hair by help of the flow of theheated air.

[0034] As described above, an important feature of the present inventionis to independently provide the ion-flow channel 5 connecting to the ionoutlet 61 from the air-flow channel 2 for sending the hot air to the airoutlet 21. Therefore, the minus ions generated by the minus iongenerator 7 can not come into the air-flow channel 2.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 2, an ion switch 81 for switching the minus iongenerator 7 to start or stop generating the minus ions is provided at anupper surface of the outer wall 6 for the ion-flow channel. Thereby, itis possible to easily select the presence or absence of the generationof minus ions by operating the ion switch 81 by one hand, while holdingthe grip 35 of the hair drier by the other hand.

[0036] In addition, an ion generation indicator 82 is provided inproximity to the ion switch 81 to indicate the start or stop of thegeneration of minus ions by the minus ion generator 7 in conjunctionwith the ion switch 81. Therefore, when the ion switch 81 is operated,the presence or absence of the generation of minus ions can be checkedby the ion generation indicator 82. This provides a further improvementin operationality of the hair drier of the present invention. In thepresent embodiment, an LED 82 a is used as the ion generation indicator82. Thus, since the function of controlling the air flow of the hairdrier is located on the grip 35, and the function of operating thegeneration of the minus ions is located on the upper surface of thehousing 1, it is possible to provide the hair drier having an improvedoperationality and a refined appearance.

[0037] The following is an example of how to use the hair drierdescribed above. After a user washes hair, and wipes the wet hair with atowel lightly, it is preferred to dry the hair with a hot air, whilespraying minus ions from the hair dryer of the present invention. Thatis, the grip 35 is grasped, and the power switch 36 is turned on toactivate the motor 32 and rotate the fan 31. Thereby, outside air issucked into the housing 1 through the air suction inlet 22, and thesucked air is heated by the heater 33 to provide the hot air.

[0038] The hot air is sent to the nozzle 4 through the grid member 34disposed in the vicinity of the air outlet 21 of the housing 1, and thenejected from the end aperture 41 of the nozzle 4. To spray the minusions together with the hot air on the hair, the ion switch 81 is turnedon to generate the minus ions by the minus ion generator 7, so that theminus ions are ejected from the ion outlet 61. Thus, by drying the hairwith the hot air containing the minus ions, it is possible to achievemoist hair that is easy to perform hairstyling.

INDUSTRIAL APLLICABILITY

[0039] According to the present invention, minus ions generated by theminus ion generator can be efficiently ejected from the ion outlet,without being caught by an obstacle such as a grid member in thehousing. In addition, since the ion generator is disposed in theion-flow channel other than the air-flow channel in the housing, it doesnot hamper a flow of the hot air running the air-flow channel. As aresult, a user of the hair drier can perform hairstyling with freedom,while spraying larger amounts of the minus ions to the hair. Moreover,by an increase in the amounts of minus ions that reach the hair, it ispossible to obtain the hair having high moisture content in less time.This achieves moist hair that is easy to perform hairstyling.

[0040] In particular, when the ion outlet is provided in the vicinity ofthe air outlet, the minus ions ejected from the ion outlet are mixedwith the hot air ejected from the air outlet, and then supplied to theuser's hair. Therefore, the amounts of minus ions spayed on the hair canbe further increased.

1. A hair drier with a minus ion generator comprising: an air-flowchannel formed in the interior of a housing; a fan and a heater disposedin said air-flow channel; an air outlet for ejecting an air, which isprovided at a downstream end of said air-flow channel; an ion-flowchannel formed in said housing so as to be separated from said airflowchannel; said minus-ion generator for generating minus ions, which isdisposed in said ion-flow channel; and an ion outlet for said minusions, which is provided at a downstream end of said ion-flow channel. 2.The hair drier as set forth in claim 1, wherein said minus ion generatorincludes a needle electrode and a ground electrode spaced away from saidneedle electrode by a small distance, and wherein a discharge forgenerating said minus ions is developed between said needle electrodeand said ground electrode by applying a negative high voltage to saidneedle electrode.
 3. The hair drier as set forth in claim 1, whereinsaid housing has an air induction path for allowing part of the airrunning in said air-flow channel to flow in said ion-flow channel. 4.The hair drier as set forth in claim 1, wherein said ion outlet isprovided in the vicinity of said air outlet.
 5. The hair drier as setforth in claim 1 comprising an ion switch for switching said minus iongenerator to start or stop generating said minus ions.
 6. The hair drieras set forth in claim 5, wherein said ion switch is provided on asurface of said housing and in the vicinity of said minus ion generator.7. The hair drier as set forth in claim 5 comprising an ion generationindicator for indicating the start or stop of generating said minus ionsby said minus ion generator in conjunction with said ion switch.
 8. Thehair drier as set forth in claim 7, wherein said ion-generationindicator is provided on a surface of said housing and in the vicinityof said minus ion generator.
 9. A hair drier with a minus ion generatorcomprising: a housing having a substantially hollow structure, which hasan air suction inlet, air outlet, and an air-flow channel extendingtherebetween; a fan for sucking an outside air into said housing throughsaid air suction inlet; a heater for heating the air in said air-flowchannel; and said minus ion generator; wherein said housing has anion-flow channel formed as an independent flow channel from saidair-flow channel, and an ion outlet provided at a different positionfrom said air outlet to eject minus ions generated by said minus iongenerator, and wherein said minus ion generator is disposed in saidion-flow channel.